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Saturday, 9 February 2013

Today in Habs History: February 9th Edition

On this day in 1984, Guy Lafleur became the Montreal Canadiens all-time scoring leader, surpassing Jean Beliveau to take the top spot.

Lafleur scored a hat trick (his first since October of 1982) and added an assist, against the visiting Vancouver Canucks, to give him 1223 career points. Entering the game tied with Beliveau an assist on a Perry Turnbull power-play goal, in the second period, put Le Demon Blond at the top of the heap.

The Forum crowd gave a thunderous ovation, when it was announced that there was a new franchise scoring leader. “I’m glad to get it over with,” Lafleur said, following the game. “The more you wait, the more pressure there is.”

Despite the scoring from Lafleur, and a three-goal lead with 23 minutes left to play, the Canadiens lost the game 7-6 to the Vancouver Canucks.

“It would have been a lot greater if we had won the game,” said Lafleur, who noted it was a team failure and not an individuals. “We just stopped checking in the third period. We just sat back and waited for them to come to us. It was our own fault. We gave them this game.”

The Canadiens faithful at the Forum however directed their frustration at goaltenders Rick Walmsley and Richard Sevigny. By game’s end, fans were calling the name of Vladislav Tretiak, who was at the time playing in his final Winter Olympics. At the time it was no secret that the Canadiens were in deep negotiations with the Soviets to obtain their goalie’s services.

Also on this day…

1939: Toe Blake scored four goals in Montreal’s 5-2 win over the New York Americans. Johnny Gagnon assisted on all four of Blake’s goals.

1946: Jimmy Peters records three assists in the Habs’ 6-2 win over the Chicago Black Hawks.

1971: Rogie Vachon recorded his 100th career win as the Canadiens defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1.

1975: The Canadiens set an NHL record for most road games without a loss at 16 games. The Habs tied the Buffalo Sabres 4-4 to go 10-0-6 over that span. Guy Lafleur had two goals and an assist in the game.

1977: Ken Dryden’s 33rd career shutout and three assists from Guy Lafleur lead the Canadiens to a 6-0 victory over the Vancouver Canucks. The win extended the Canadiens team-record home undefeated streak to 21 games (16-0-5).

1984: Guy Lafleur’s 16th career hat trick and an assist gives him 1223 career points to become the Canadiens all-time scoring leader. Jean Beliveau held the franchise mark with 1219.

1994: Patrick Roy becomes the third goaltender in franchise history to record 250 wins. The milestone came as the Canadiens defeated the New York Rangers 4-3.

1995: The Canadiens trade John LeClair, Eric Desjardins, and Gilbert Dionne to the Philadelphia Flyers, in exchange for Mark Recchi and Philadelphia's 3rd round pick in the 1995 Entry Draft (Martin Hohenberger). Hohenberger never played in the NHL.

2003: Mathieu Garon’s third career shutout leads the Habs past the Washington Capitals by a 2-0 score.

2012: Max Pacioretty scores a hat trick in the Canadiens 4-2 win over the New York Islanders.